Duke's Surprise
by MagPie003
Summary: Duke's feeling a little raw after all the adventures of the first three episodes of season 2.  Audrey decides to help him out by returning an old favor.  There is a little Nathan/Audrey as well.  Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome.


_It had been a hectic night for a Sunday at the Grey Gull. Not only was the crown larger than usual, two of Duke's best waitresses were down with the flu. Duke felt exhausted as he locked his office and prepared to leave. Between Audrey Two's misadventure, Evie sticking around, and Haven being Haven, he hadn't experienced a good night's sleep in awhile. He was tired; bone tired and heartsick. To top it all off, no a single soul had even though to-_

_The high pitched shriek and slamming door cut through his brain. Audrey! Fear overrode his exhaustion as he raced for the stairs. He reached the bottom of the stairwell in time to catch a barefoot, tousled, and badly frightened woman in his arms._

"_Duke! Thank God you're still here." She gasped, steadying herself by grabbing the front of his shirt. _

"_What's going on? You're shaking like a leaf!" He asked, holding her by the shoulders. It must be serious. Nothing scared his favorite blonde. _

"_It's so huge! You've got to kill it! It's just sitting on my stove eating my cup cakes. Ugh I can't believe they get so big out here away from the city."_

"_Audrey, what are you-Oh, No!" Groaned Duke. He really didn't need this. "Are you telling me you saw a rat upstairs?"_

"_Yup, biggest one I've ever seen!" She replied holding her hands out to describe the size. Duke was impressed. Apparently the upstairs apartment hosted a rat the size of a terrier. _

"_Okay, okay. Calm down," he soothed, "Please don't mention this to anyone. I'll call the exterminator first thing in the morning"_

"_What about tonight? You can't expect me to go back up there."_

_Duke chuckled. The big, bad, FBI agent was shrieking and shaking like a squeamish girl. She must have been one of those_ girls growing up: The kind that would shriek "Kill it! Kill it!" at the sight of a spider. He would've had so much fun with that. The indignant look on her face appearing at his amusement only added to the scene.

"You think this is funny?" She huffed. "What if it bites me?"

"Actually, I know this isn't funny. In fact, this is a health problem for the apartment _and _my restaurant. Still, I don't think it will bite you."

"How do you know?" It was on my stove!" She asked angrily.

"It's probably _behind_ the stove now." He replied, recalling her shriek. "It's a wild animal; it doesn't like people."

Well it sure liked my cupcake!" She snapped. A pout formed on her lips. "It was a yellow one with purple frosting. One of my favorites."

"Okay," Duke sighed. So much for getting any rest tonight. "I'll tell you what: I'll go up there with you. If I can't catch the little guy, you can stay at my place. I'll sleep here at the office. Okay?"

"Okay, " she answered shakily. "You go first.

Chuckling, he resisted the urge to tousle her hair as he moved past her up the stairs. If she didn't look so adorable, he'd be teasing her mercilessly for being so frightened. He was halfway up the stairs when he realized she hadn't joined him. Audrey, was still at the bottom of the steps, hugging her arms around her waist looking up fearfully towards her door. He smiled reassuringly and beckoned her with his finger.

"Come on, Audrey. If you're brave, I'll get you more cupcakes. I'll even ask them to put extra jimmies on top."

"Sprinkles." She countered, slowly joining him on the steps. "They're called sprinkles."

"No, they're jimmies," he countered as the continued up the stairs. Turning the knob, he scolded "Honestly woman, you've been in New England all this time and you still-"

"SURPRISE!"

It was Audrey's turn to steady Duke as he took in his surroundings. The place was decorated with streamers and a giant cake was resting on the old piano. Friends from town and staff from the restaurant popped from behind the furniture. Even Wournros was there with his smug little smirk. Duke turned to find the terrified woman who had followed him up the stairs wearing a Cheshire cat grin.

"For me?"

"One good turn deserves another." She said, smiling mischievously. "Happy Birthday!"

Shocked and delighted, he returned the smile went to greet the crowd of well wishers. Suddenly, the evening made sense. Everyone had made sure that he was too distracted to notice that certain customers were going upstairs to Audrey's instead of exiting the building. His waitresses who were "sick" had actually been upstairs with her and Nathan decorating and baking the cake.

As he approached Nathan, the normally stoic man's smirk grew to a full blown grin to match Audrey's. He clapped Duke on the shoulder and handed him a beer.

"Happy Birthday! The look on your face was priceless."

'Heh, yeah. I take it you were in on this?"

"Well, I did let her look at your file." Nathan replied, clinking his own beer against Duke's.

"Really?" Duke gulped. "The whole thing?"

"No, no, not the whole thing." Reassured Nathan, recalling several incidents from younger and dumber days that Duke would rather not explain. "That's my gift to you."

The party was everything a birthday celebration should be. There was cake, laughter, well wishing, and games. Duke couldn't remember anyone doing something this genuinely nice for him in a very long time. He was torn between the urge to shake and scold Audrey for the prank and taking her him his arms and spinning her around in the air.

When it was over, Audrey, Duke, and Nathan stood out on the deck enjoying the stars and night air.

"Hey, Duke?"

"Yeah, Nate?"

"Did you really think that Audrey was flipping out over a rat?" He asked, smiling conspiratorially at his partner.

"Well, she was pretty convincing." He replied. "Seriously, Audrey, you could win an award."

"Told you he would fall for it." Laughed Audrey, linking her arm with Nathan's.. "You were right, Nathan. He couldn't pass up a Damsel in distress."

"I don't think I'm the only one." Duke teased, smiling as Nathan glared at him before turning his gaze back to Audrey. Duke uncharacteristically stayed silent as Audrey kissed Nathan's cheek and walked him to the door. Normally, Duke wouldn't have passed up a chance to torment Nathan. Tonight, however, he was so full of good will that they could've made out in front of him and he would've stayed quiet. He even returned to star gazing to give them privacy as they said goodnight.

Audrey returned bearing a blue gift bag. Smiling shyly, she handed it to him with a card. Duke froze. No on had given him a gift, no strings attached, in a very long time.

"Go on, birthday boy, open it!" She urged.

A grown man can expect certain things from a friend as a birthday gift: Music, books, gift cards, maybe even booze. However, none of these things were found as Duke pushed the tissue paper aside. Pulling out a soft, plush, stuffed lion, he stared bemused at Audrey.

"Nathan told me about the conversation you had while burying the Chief." Audrey explained, smiling sheepishly. "I guess the imagery stuck in my head. Two lions at my side."

"Me and Nathan are your guard lions?" He asked. Another smile and a blush were his reply. "So I'm the cuddly one?"

"Well, it's not so much that as-Oh! Just read the card!"

Duke set the lion and bag down to open the card. It was covered with illustrations of various jungle animals. A lion was front and center. The inside was blank save for Audrey's small print.

_Dear Duke:_

_I wasn't exaggerating when I had said that no one had ever thrown a party for me before. That was one of the kindest things anyone had done for me. I wanted to return the favor. While I might not say it enough-or at all come to think of it-I am lucky to have you as a friend. You and Nathan are my rocks. In spite of your best efforts, you do care for others more than yourself. The little guy in this bag is to remind you that you can be strong and sweet. I value both sides in you and hope that you will do the same in time._

_Your Friend,_

_Audrey_

Duke swallowed, blinked, and smiled gently at the diminutive blonde in front of him. She was getting redder by the minute. After setting the card next to the toy, he gathered her into his arms.

"Thank you, " he said, kissing her softly on the forehead, " I love it. Really, I do."

"I was afraid you would think it was stupid." She replied, returning the hug tightly.

"Nope, it's perfect." He pulled away from her long enough to stifle a yawn.

"I think it's time to get back to your den." Audrey giggled.

Duke gathered up his new friend and let Audrey walk him to the door of the apartment. Before leaving, he wrapped his free arm around her and kissed her forehead again.

"Good night, Audrey. Thanks for a great birthday!"

"You're very welcome." She wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed his cheek.

"You know, Nathan's is next month…"


End file.
